


Listen and Learn

by shortandirritablee



Series: Mothers and Daughters [2]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-22 03:55:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17052641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shortandirritablee/pseuds/shortandirritablee





	Listen and Learn

Kya would never forget the first time she bent water: it had been in the middle of the night, and she awoke to the sound of droplets bouncing off the roof tiles, as though calling her with each dull ping that resonated through her room. She clambered out of bed and walked to the window that she’d forgotten to close, water puddling on the floor around it. When she looked out to the courtyard, she saw her mother dancing in the rain. But it was more than just dancing. Each of her mother’s graceful movements was met with a similar response from the water around her, as though she were leading a partner in a dance or conducting a symphony in which she was the maestro. 

Her mother twirled with her eyes closed on one foot, her right leg curling behind her as she lifted her right arm to the sky with her left arm bent around her chest, leaning back slightly. The water followed her movements, spiraling in a single stream, making a gentle whirring sounds as it moved around her, so unlike the sporadic panging of raindrops in the courtyard.

Kya climbed out onto the flat beam outside her window; never letting her gaze leave Katara. She tried to find her mother’s secret rhythm that she danced to, leaning in time with her, lifting her arms as she did. Once she felt like she’d memorized her mother’s movements and was sure enough in her footing on the wooden beam, she closed her eyes. The panging stopped. She heard nothing but a gentle whirring, and when she opened her eyes, she saw her water surrounding her, reflecting her face back to her. Grinning, she spun faster and faster until her feet caught each other, and she tumbled, landed on the beam with a resounding thud that shook her mother from her trance.

“Kya? What are you doing up there, sweetheart?” Her mother looked shocked to see her up so late, sitting on the roof.

Breathless and unable to contain the thrumming in her arms and legs, she stood up and flicked the water around her as she spun. When she stopped to face her mother again, Katara’s eyes looked glossy, and she had a shaky smile that she wore whenever she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“Do…did you want to bend with me?” She gathered her water and froze it into a slide from the roof to the courtyard, her arms trembling as she did so. “How long have you been able to bend, sweetie?”

“Dunno,” the little girl shrugged. “The water wanted to dance with me, so I did.” 

A strangled gasp left her mother as she hugged her.

“Well then, let’s dance.” Together they flowed through the movements, Katara moving at a slower pace so Kya could keep up, only stopping when the pattering of rain ceased, and the sky began to clear.

___________________________________________________________

Naturally, Katara appointed herself as her daughter’s waterbending master, and the pattering of raindrops was replaced with the rapid flowing streams and rivers on their home island. The water whizzed past her side, echoing in her ear as she narrowly dogged the onslaught of her mother’s water whips. 

“You’ll have to be quicker than that in a fight,” her mother jokingly taunted. “I’m going easy on you!”

Her brow furrowed, Kya gathered the water around her, spiralling and enjoying the rapid whirring of her element as she sent it her mother’s way. Almost too easily, Katara flicked it to her side in a single movement, but as she prepared for her next barrage, Kya was ready. She took her water and ran forward before leaping, relishing the muffled chink of her water freezing before landing and riding her frozen wave. She ducked under her mother’s sweeping movements and bounced up, inches from Katara’s face, catching her mid-movement and tapping her with an icy shard around her fist.

“I win.” She grinned.

Yielding, her mother dropped her water. As Kya walked back to her starting point, the water once again hurried towards her, a sound rapid and determined like a river beating off the rocks around it as it doggedly raced to the ocean. Adrenaline coursing through her veins, Kya rolled to the side, water accumulating around her arms as she landed on the balls of her feet. Ahead of her she saw her mother, a cheeky smile playing on her face as she readied more water.

“Our session isn’t over yet, sweetheart.” 

Kya sprang into action, the water whizzing by her.

____________________________________________________________________

Her next lesson was calm, the water silent in the wooden pools of the healing room. She sat on one side of the pool, her mother opposite her, cross-legged with her hands on her knees.

“You must clear your mind for this to work.” Katara told her. “Empty your thoughts and focus only on the water in front of you.”

“Like when dad meditates?”

“Yes, sweetie. It’s very similar to that.”

Nodding, Kya took in a deep breath, closing her eyes as she exhaled. She continued her breathing patterns, then slowly lifted her arms in front of her. Gently, and with her hands slightly relaxed yet still in control, she moved her arms back and forth, one over the other. At first, nothing happened. She just barely changed the position of her fingertips and heard it, smiling at the knowledge of her success. It was the strangest sound water could make as far as she was concerned: a series of almost metallic sounds like the reverberation of a steel drum, coming in a plethora of pitches, some impossibly high, all ringing in her ears. Her eyes were closed but she could sense the light shining through her eyelids. When she opened them, the pool had turned from a barely noticeable blue to a vibrant turquoise. Completely forgetting her mother’s presence, she brought an orb of water to her ear, ardently listening to every note it sang for her.

“Hey, back to me, Kya.” Her mother gestured to her, rolling up her sleeve to reveal a purple bruise, the result of a particularly rough sparring session with Aunt Toph. “Press your water here, okay?”

Slowly, Kya moved the water from her ear and pressed it onto her mother’s forearm. The ringing of the healing water dulled as it made contact, muffled by Katara’s skin. After mere moments, Katara moved her arm, completely free of all its previous blemishes.

“Wow,” she breathed. “You really are a natural healer, sweetie.”

Kya stayed in the healing hut long after her mother left, mesmerized by the echoing water.

___________________________________________________________________________

The deafening crack jolted her awake. Her shutters flew open into her room, snapping at the hinges and the flash of lightning illuminated the raging storm when she looked out her window. She could already hear the roaring tides as they crashed against the cliffs that lined the West side of Air Temple Island. Swinging off the supporting beams with her water whip, she landed in the courtyard before racing to the edge of the island, where she saw her mother standing alone, assessing the disaster unfurling in Yue Bay.

“Will dad be back in time to help?” Her mother jolted upon hearing her then shook her head.

“No. But we still need to get those ships to safety.”

Kya looked past her mother to see the ships being thrown by the massive waves in the harbour; it wouldn’t be long before one of them capsized or crashed into another. She and her mother leapt off the cliff together, propelling themselves towards the ships. At Katara’s command, Kya froze the water around them, planting their feet in place while Katara brought up the deep currents from below to push the ships to shore. The waves smacked against their hulls, piercing her eardrums with an aggressive snap.

They worked in tandem, Kya freezing them in place while Katara forced the ships to safety in a demonstration of bending as powerful as Kya had ever seen her mother do.

Just as they reached the last ship, a gust of wind caught their ice raft, snapping Kya’s holdings and throwing her into the churning abyss. It was pitch black, but she could still hear the tides swilling and popping in her ears as she was dragged further down. As she was being thrown about in the sea, a plunge erupted above her, and a firm grip took her by the arm.

When she finally resurfaced, gasping for air, her mother froze them in place to let her catch her breath.

“Are you alright?” She yelled over the cracking of waves. Kya nodded, and together they froze the tides around the ship, pushing it to land. 

With their remaining energy, they rode the waves back to Air Temple Island, where Katara immediately began to scan Kya with her healing water. After pausing over the back of Kya’s head, she dropped her water and slumped down next to her daughter. Exhausted but relieved, they sat in silence, watching the storm run its course.

__________________________________________________________________

The sound of her element that she’d always found the most unsettling was the most common in her mother’s homeland. With her father having passed, her mother packed up and left for the South Pole, and after having spent so many years avoiding her family, she decided to accompany her aging mother. 

She hadn’t been prepared for the snowstorms.

While her mother slept, Kya found herself unable to rest; the snowstorm howled outside as though shouting at her. Her mother had always told her how important family was in the Water Tribes, and now her element seemed to scream at her. _How dare you abandon your family for all those years?_ It yelled. She tried to ignore it and fall asleep, to forget the rustling of tarps and the biting wind that blew in; after what felt like hours, she gave up. Putting on her parka, she marched out into the storm. It wasn’t quite dark, and neither was it light, but she could make out the gales heading her way.

Each time the snow blew past her she heard its screams. _Coward!_ It called her. _How could you?_ It demanded. Grabbing at the snow with expert hands, she screamed back. _You don’t understand!_ She argued. _You have no idea what it was like being their daughter!_ She reasoned. 

The storm refused to relent, continuing its tirade against her. After fighting it for some time, Kya let out a scream of her own, pushing her hands out to her sides and falling on her knees. When she expected the snow to continue its collision course, she heard nothing. Looking up, she saw the snow passing around her, leaving her in its eye, completely untouched.

“Kya, what are you doing out here?” Startled, she turned to see her mother gently bending a sphere of solace around them, and Kya, a woman grown, began to cry.

“I’m sorry, mom. I left you! I left you for all those years and only came back when dad-”

Before she could finish, Katara wrapped her in her increasingly frail embrace.

“Sweetheart, you have nothing to apologize for. You had to find your own path and you did. And I am so, _so_ proud of you. Let’s go inside. This is no place for anyone to be alone.” Numbly, Kya nodded, allowing her mother to guide her back inside. Katara sat her down and prepared a pot of tea for them, then joined her on the floor. 

“Now then,” she said as she took her first sip, a soft timber in her voice. “Why don’t you tell me what’s been on your mind all this time?”


End file.
